


Flare

by Ayantiel



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Biotic bullshitting, Biotics (Mass Effect), M/M, My Scott is absolutely hopeless, SAM and Gil play matchmaker, pure fluff, questionable coping strategies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-07 14:51:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14083353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ayantiel/pseuds/Ayantiel
Summary: Scott had never been good at biotics. Which had never been a problem before; he had plenty of other skills he could rely on. But when his biotics start acting up around his Angaran crewmate, Scott knows he's in trouble.





	Flare

**Author's Note:**

> Whilst not written for a prompt from the Bananas for Thedas discord server, this fic still wouldn't have existed without them (and insomnia haha)
> 
> Thank you, beans, for indulging my excited rambling.

Scott was terrible at biotics. He's had the same training his sister had. But where she excelled, manipulating mass effect fields with relative ease, Scott had always struggled.

Not that he was prone to outbursts of biotics, to the contrary, his instructor had once told him that if anything he had too much control. 'You're as tense as a pyjak in a varren nest, boy. Relax those shoulders and try again.'

But try as he might, he had never been able to achieve the same results as his sister or his father. Sara had tried to give him tips. But there was only so much 'you just gotta get a feeling for it' type of advice he could stand before rolling his eyes and going back to his studies. He'd never been good at expressing himself, so it was no surprise that he preferred actual physics over metaphysics.

The little he could do with his biotics had occasionally come in handy with the Alliance, but for the most part he relied on other skills in combat. His biotics were little more than a note in his file. And 600 years later and in another galaxy, Scott had all but forgotten that he even had them.

That was, until he met Jaal.  
He'd never understood before when his sister had talked about her moods affecting her biotics. Sure he'd heard tales of anger fueled biotics being more powerful. There was many a vid portraying the dramatic vengeful cry of a biotic showcasing their sudden heightened power through the magic of shitty writing, crying out their lover's name in over-acted anguish.

It was a familiar tale, but one Scott had waved off as popularized nonsense. Not that he claimed to be an expert on biotics. But just because humanity was still learning about biotics, and asari liked to hash on about embracing eternity, didn't mean it was magical or anything of the sort. It was simply a yet to be fully understood science.

But he'd never heard of butterflies sparking mass effect fields.  
Because of his taciturn nature (or what Liam liked to call 'emotionally constipated') Scott maintaned his composure for the most part. And so when his biotics started flaring up around Jaal, no one made the connection.

Lexi and Cora talked about stress affecting him. Cora had send him multiple essays on focus training. And Lexi send him more yoga exercises. He actually saved some of those. It might not help with his biotics problem, but he enjoyed the exercises she'd sent him before.

Liam told him he just needed to lighten up. Or get laid. At which point Peebee winked at him.  
Scott pointedly ignored the both of them.

It wasn't really a problem, more of an annoyance. The flare ups were never so extreme that they inspired more than an amused glance from his crewmates. The worst he'd done so far was drop of a mug of coffee when he'd reach for it and accidentally knocked it two meters away from him when Jaal had smiled at him.

But then Gil and SAM ganged up on him.

Gil had always been an annoyingly perceptive asshole, blood poker genius that he was. And SAM had yet to learn the subtleties of tact.

So when Gil had made a casual remark about Scott's biotics flaring up around Angara, SAM had helpfully supplied that it was not Jaal's bioelectric field that sparked Scott's biotics. Or if it was, it did not happen around other Angara. At which point Gil's grin had turned unbelievably smug and Scott wished he were unprofessional enough to shove Gil's face into Jaal's nutrient paste.

Scott had praised his lucky stars that no one else had been around for that particular conversation. But ever since then, it only got worse. Because now whenever Scott's biotics flared around Jaal, Gil would smirk at him. And though Scott had mastered the art of keeping his face neutral throughout his life. He had yet to learn how to stop himself from blushing.  
Scott had considered avoiding Jaal, but that plan was quickly tossed out the window when Jaal came up to him and asked him if perhaps he had done something wrong, maybe overlooked a human custom and had inadvertantly offended Scott that he now no longer wished to be around him.

Scott had quickly reassured him that he had simply been busy, apologised for the confusion, and resigned himself to turning into a beacon of embarrasment whenever the Angara rumbled one his deep laughs.  
Gil tried to get him to talk about it the next time they played poker. But Scott had never been good at talking about his feelings. Not even with his sister, the person he was closest to.

"Alright you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Gil told him, "but can you at least admit you've got big, heart-shaped feelings for the big bubblegum?"

Scott very much could not. But his red cheeks betrayed him.

Gil pointedly raised an eyebrow at him and Scott sighed.

"I fold."

"Thought so."

\----

Rationally, Scott had known that this impasse could not last forever. But he was still unprepared when Jaal approached him one day.

"Jaal," Scott greeted him as he fervently ignored the way his heart fluttered in his chest at the sight of the Angara in his doorway.

"Ryder, do you have a moment that we might speak?"

Scott hesitated for a split second, trying to think of an excuse, but then remembering the look in Jaal's eyes when he had thought (correctly) that Scott had been avoiding him. His heart clenched.

"I can come back another time, if it's inconvenient," offered Jaal.

"No, no. It's fine. Come in."

Scott led him inside and put aside the latest report on Eos' continually decreasing radiation as he motioned for Jaal to sit.  
"What can I help you with?"

But instead of speaking, Jaal simply studied him for a few moments. Scott fought down the sudden urge to bolt.

"Uh... Jaal?"

Jaal narrowed his eyes at him, before suddenly sitting back and casting him a friendly smile that made Scott's stomach do a flip.

"I apologise, I was testing a hypothesis."  
As odd as that had been, Scott couldn't help but perk up a little at that. He'd always been a sucker for the scientific approach.

"What were you testing?" he asked.

"I was trying to see if your biotics responded to fluctuations in my bioelectric field," Jaal said, pronouncing the word 'biotics' slowly and with a care that Scott found endearing. God but he was hopeless!

"I had noticed that your biotics seem to flare up most often around me. SAM suggested it might be linked to my unique physiology compared to yours."

SAM, you traitor! Scott thought. He took a carefully controlled breath.

"And what is your conclusion?"

"Hm. That there must be some other trigger. I suspected as much to be quite honest. You never showed a sensitivity for this ability of the Angara before. If it had been related to my bioelectric field I would have expected your biotics to go haywire on Aya, surrounded by hundreds of different fields."

Scott hummed thoughtfully, trying to stomp down the nerves he could feel starting to flutter in his stomach.

"I still have much to learn about biotics," Jaal went on. "It is a fascinating ability. But it appears Cora does not suffer these same effects. I'm curious... Do you have an idea as to why that might be?"

_Fuck_

Scott could think up some excuse. He could mention his natural lack of talent when it came to biotics was the culprit. He could go into the science behind biotics, and it was tempting to hide in logic as was his usual.

But it felt like lying. And if there was one thing Scott could not bring himself to do, was lie to Jaal.

"I do."

He tried to say more, to explain. But anxiety curled at the back of his mind, eager to drown him should he attempt to give voice to his emotions. And when that happened he shut down. He didn't want to shut down around Jaal.

But Jaal - sweet, wonderful Jaal - understood.

"My apologies, Scott," he said, and Scott felt some of the tension ease off his shoulders at the sound of his name on Jaal's lips, "I had not considered it might be a difficult subject. You do not have to explain."

He cast Jaal a small, grateful smile.

He knew it must be confusing for Jaal, how he struggled to express himself. The Angara were so open. Humans were different, and Scott was routinely called a robot by his own people. Even more so now that he was connected to SAM, but that was another story altogether.

But from the start, Jaal seemed to understand, somehow, that though Scott did not show it, he felt, deeply. There was a heart behind the cold exterior. And Jaal had found it, as easy as if it had never been hidden at all.

"But... might I ask - and of course you can say no - but I worry that I... make you uncomfortable. Your biotics only seem to flare up around me."

As if on cue, Scott's biotics sprang to life, enveloping the datapad he'd been fussing with in a zero-g field. He might as well have held up a sign that said 'You are right. Hopeless disaster right here!'  
He could feel himself blush.

They both stared at the datapad, gently rolling around its axis in mid-air, as an awkward silence fell over them.

"Yes... that," Jaal finally said, dryly.

"I uh..." Scott began, but then cleared his throat when his voice came out unsteady and high-pitched.

He made the mistake of looking away from the datapad and back at Jaal. The angara now looked, while not sad exactly, he definitely didn't look happy. Shit.

"Let me start by saying you are doing absolutely nothing wrong. You haven't made me uncomfortable or... or... missed some human custom or anything like that. I'm just..."

He faltered.  
What could he say? That he was terrified of how Jaal made him feel? Yeah, that would go over well. Make the poor man feel even more guilty, why don't you?

"You say I have not made you uncomfortable... and yet you are uncomfortable right now," Jaal pointed out.

The datapad spinned on quite merrily.  
"Only in the best way?" Scott tried. Fucking hell, was it too late to jump out the nearest airlock and dive into the Scourge?

To his surprise, Jaal barked out a laugh.

"You are not aware, but we Angara have a saying. It roughly translates to 'A full heart is exquisitely uncomfortable.'"

He smiled at Scott, whose biotics flickered blue around him and the datapad dropped.

"I am quite familiar with the feeling," Jaal told him. His eyes firmly locked on his and... oh.

"Oh" Scott said weakly.

Jaal then reached out. At first Scott thought he was trying to grasp his hand, but instead he stopped a little distance away and Scott felt... something, at the edges of his own mass effect field. This time Scott consciously used his biotics, he reached out, felt Jaal's bioelectricity pushing... feeling. A silent hello.

For the first time, Scott understood what Sara had meant. _You just gotta get a feeling for it._

Scott had no idea how long they sat like that. Silently touching and not touching. Just... feeling.

He would always have difficulty putting his feelings into words. He would still hide behind logic and he'd still be called an unfeeling robot by others. His biotics would still act out of their own accord. But right now, with Jaal, he had no reason to hide.

"Are you still uncomfortable?"

Scott smiled.

"Exquisitely so."


End file.
